Humpday Happenings...
I've got this world wildlife calendar staring at me from the wall, and it's got a picture of a mama polar bear and her cub on some frozen tundra-like landscape...not doing all that much to make me feel "warm and fuzzy" during winter...so that's why the coffee is within a hand-grab.
I knew I should have put the sleeping kitten calendar up on that wall...but that would have made me drowsy...
And the Chinese calendar from a local eatery would have made me hungry...can't seem to win here.
To think I COULD have had a Three Stooges calendar...at HALF PRICE, and yet neglected to purchase it.
Next year, maybe?
I could always save that polar bear picture for JULY...when I really NEED it...LOL.
Anyway, let's see what "WHO SAID IT?" quote we have in store today.
*** This quote is really attributable to no one in particular, but is considered one of those "sayings":
"Climate is what you expect, and weather is what you get."
If I were to venture a guess as to who MIGHT have said this, I'd figure some grunt in some god-forsaken foxhole fighting to keep all the parts of him that he entered battle with where the Creator intended them to remain while ALSO battling the elements.
Lord knows there's nothing worse than trying to combat TWO "enemies" at the same time...in the same place.
*** Next up, what ABOUT that New Year's Resolution, anyway?
Do you take the time to make one up, and if so, do you really KEEP it?
A RESOLUTION is defined thus:
1. a formal expression of opinion or intention made, usually after voting, by a formal organization, a legislature, a club, or other group. Compare concurrent resolution, joint resolution.
2. a resolve or determination: to make a firm resolution to do something.
3. the act of resolving or determining upon an action or course of action, method, procedure, etc.
4. the mental state or quality of being resolved or resolute; firmness of purpose.
5. the act or process of resolving or separating into constituent or elementary parts.
I don't know about YOU, but #4 kinda intrigues me...that whole "firmness of purpose" thing.
As to actually MAKING one...can't pigeonhole myself in such a manner.
My ONLY resolution is really NOT to make a resolution...that way I can never really be disappointed or otherwise let down.
Life often has it's times when we NEED to be resolve in some manner.
Perhaps it's a situation we need to attend to immediately, or maybe it's something that deserves our attention at that time.
If I were to make a REAL resolution, I would be sure that it would have a modicum of SUCCESS involved.
I mean, what point is there to making a resolution, if you have little or no intention of seeing it through?
If the odds stack against your succeeding at it, wouldn't it be more prudent to rethink the whole plan and come at it from a different direction, in order to ensure SOME level of success or accomplishment?
Yeah, that DOES make a lot more sense, doesn't it?
So, if you DO make a resolution for the new year, I'd say take some time and think it out...plan for those things that could deter you from the reason you made it in the first place, and do what you need to do in order to make your resolution a victory, rather than a defeat.
*** And speaking of "rethinking things"...this story caught my eye this morning...
It's about how Fort Wayne is trying to assist developers with URBAN HOUSING.
(here we go again...I thought this merry-go-round finally STOPPED)
Here's the link to the story:
http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20120104/LOCAL/301049981
The Housing and Neighborhood Development Board (who the hell are these mooks?) are investigating ways to create a "loan fund" to help developers build in the city's urban core, which to me sounds like the...(...all together, gang...) SOUTHEAST side of town.
Unless, they're REALLY talking about the area immediately SURROUNDING the (always in development) DOWNTOWN area.
I don't see any specific area boundaries inclusive to the article, so I'm guessing here, but most of my guesses are usually better than most city FACTS, anyway.
To quote the story:
(( The problem locally is that several developers are looking to build urban housing projects, such as condominiums, but Fort Wayne lacks comparable existing units. )) Now, ain't that just too damn bad.
Whenever I hear the words HOUSING PROJECT, I am always reminded of the "facilities" that went up in parts of Philly, initially used to house the low-income of the crowd, mainly ethnic in nature.
And while this is a noble undertaking, the fact of the matter is that ANY of these areas soon become havens for all sorts of illegal activities.
They put up a bunch of high-rises in south Philly to house those displaced by I-95 when it was built, and most of THOSE people were older white folks who lived in houses one could consider historical in nature (one of the oldest sections of the city).
Well, it didn't take long for the wrong folks to begin moving into those high-rises, bringing their "baggage" with them, and soon, it became a place even the police din;t want to visit. Thankfully, they were torn down (in less than 30 years!), distributing the indigent and moronic all over the city (most all the whites have vacated long before that).
And it's screwed up a LOT more neighborhoods as a result of such "noble" experiments.
So, you can see I've got an understanding of what CAN happen with such ventures.
Now, here in Fort Wayne, we also have OVER 400 VACANT houses...waiting to be refurbished and moved into, so WHY would we even bother to bring in developers that want to build completely NEW housing units?
And the current reason we're given that new housing PROJECTS haven't built HERE, is that we presently DO NOT meet the criteria for (enough) AVAILABLE units? We need MORE PROJECTS in order to get even MORE?
(Bob, we need a bigger ghetto to make this wasted money of our future seem worthwhile)
I say IF a developer has the "stones" to build in an area they KNOW will be PROFITABLE, you won't need to dangle some damn (government-sponsored) carrot in front of him to do so.
Developers should be there to ASSIST THE CITY (they build in), and NOT the other way around.
Fort Wayne already does (imho) TOO damn much to "assist" those that shouldn't BE assisted in the first place.
That's why MY neighborhood has devolved over the last 10-15 years...all that "assistance" to the wrong people...and for the wrong reasons.
Don't anybody even TRY to think this thing through...just perform more of your "business-as-usual", and then wind up annexing even MORE surrounding areas when this goes down the tubes...sure, that's the "good old boy" way.
Wonder how often such assisting was performed in such cities like...Detroit...or Chicago...or Atlanta, Cincy, Cleveland, Philly...well, that list just keeps getting LONGER, doesn't it?
This doesn't "solve" ANY problem...it SPREADS it the hell out, and that only increases the likelihood of trashing more nice areas of those cities once it starts all over again. And this is called PROGRESS?
(not hardly)
Stop working on the HOUSING and start working on the POPULATION instead. Get THEIR heads out their asses, and their hands out of the taxpayers' pockets and get THEM accountable and responsible enough to know what it means to be a RESPECTABLE HOMEOWNER...period.
THEN (and only then) will you see blighted areas come back to life...and actually THRIVE.
The rest (businesses and the like) will take of itself.
*** Lastly today, I'm a worrier...there I said it.
It's not that I LIKE to worry...I just do, because a certain level of worry denotes a certain level of CONCERN.
And I am a CONCERNED individual.
I'm concerned about the state of my neighborhood, this city, the state I reside in, and especially this nation.
And concerned people tend to be more GOAL-oriented, than TASK-oriented.
Granted, you have to perform certain tasks in order to achieve a GOAL.
But the whole issue is KNOWING you HAVE to perform whatever task is required, if you are ever to MAKE the goal you have set for yourself.
And the driving force behind that is MOTIVATION...plain and simple.
When people are not motivated to do something...anything...the whole plan unravels like a cheap-ass sweater.
THAT is what is ailing America these days...not enough people motivated into action.
It doesn't take THAT much to get the ball rolling...it just take the WILL to say you can...and then stick to it and see it through.
In the end, it takes INDIVIDUAL commitment, and with ENOUGH individuals pulling together, things WILL get done.
Now, I don't know what lights the fire under your ass...you have to find that out for yourselves.
Whatever motivates you into action is the key.
And history has proven that motivated people can do damn near anything.
Let THAT be your guide today, and for every day to come.
YOU have it in you to make things happen...however small of insignificant it might seem to others.
THAT is what makes this nation the greatest in the world.
Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay SAFE out there, America.